Biggest jerk on the tour?

[mcanadiens]

Ya know. If I were a Tour player, people would probably think I'm the biggest so-and-so that ever lived.

[inthehole]

From the outside looking in ... I would have to say Vijay.    Think about it ... have you EVER seen him smile on the course ?     He has this surly, disgusted look on his face 99.9% of the time.       I don't know anything about the guy, but like I said, I've never seen anyone else on tour who appears to constantly be in a bad mood ...

... my wife (an avid golfer) still to this day can't stand him for his refusal to play in that one PGA tournament back in the day that Annika played in - he was vocal & refused to play because they let a woman play in a PGA event (she was not successful & missed the cut as I recall) ... he is strong headed and isn't afraid to go against the grain (enter his recent lawsuit) ... I can respect that, but he still seems like a jackass more often than not.

[Ernest Jones]

[Crim]

From the outside looking in ... I would have to say Vijay.    Think about it ... have you EVER seen him smile on the course ?     He has this surly, disgusted look on his face 99.9% of the time.       I don't know anything about the guy, but like I said, I've never seen anyone else on tour who appears to constantly be in a bad mood ...

... my wife (an avid golfer) still to this day can't stand him for his refusal to play in that one PGA tournament back in the day that Annika played in - he was vocal & refused to play because they let a woman play in a PGA event (she was not successful & missed the cut as I recall) ... he is strong headed and isn't afraid to go against the grain (enter his recent lawsuit) ... I can respect that, but he still seems like a jackass more often than not.

I disagree with that whole philosophy of not smiling during intense competition making you a jerk.

Some of the nicest people I know are intensely savage when it comes to competition...now multiply that by one million and that has to be what the top athletes are going through.

The refusing to play with a woman though....that's petty and bastardly.

[inthehole]

someone needs this as their avatar ... it's even better with the Maters background

[boogielicious]

I think we spend too much time thinking about this kind of stuff.  Some of these so called "jerks" may be completely different outside of a golf course.  They are there to compete.  In competition mode, they are trying to stay focused.

I got to spend time with Brad Park, the great NHL defenseman,  at a baseball game.  He was delightful.  When he was playing, fans of opposing teams thought he was a supreme jerk.  After meeting him, I could not figure how anyone could have gotten that impression.

[JPK1988]

I'm not totally sure why but Rory Sabatini makes my skin crawl.

[jcp1st]

An acquaintance had the opportunity to play in a pro-am a couple of years ago.  The pro assigned to their group was Woody Austin and I was told he made the day miserable for all of them; in fact, he even used the word jerk to describe Austin.

[saturday]

Bubba does it for me... I really liked him before until I saw all the crap he bitches about after each shot. That stuff with his caddy past year was pathetic and you can just tell he is arrogant and puts off that entitled vibe.

[phan52]

I think we spend too much time thinking about this kind of stuff.  Some of these so called "jerks" may be completely different outside of a golf course.  They are there to compete.  In competition mode, they are trying to stay focused.

I got to spend time with Brad Park, the great NHL defenseman,  at a baseball game.  He was delightful.  When he was playing, fans of opposing teams thought he was a supreme jerk.  After meeting him, I could not figure how anyone could have gotten that impression.

As a fan who hates both the Rangers and the Bruins, I can tell you that the only reason I didn't like Brad Park is because he played for the Rangers and the Bruins.

In my experience as a Marshal inside the ropes, the two guys who stood out the most as jerks toward the fans were Vijay Singh and Justin Leonard. Back in the day, I caddied for a number of PGA Tour players on qualifyng Mondays, and then went 72 holes three different times (Jerry McGee, Tom Evans, Larry Ziegler). Jerry McGee told me on the first tee, "Keep up and shut up" and never said another word to me for four days. Then he stiffed me when he made no money. He'll always be my #1 jerk.

[Foursum Golf]

I am really interested in the responses that involve personal experiences. Lots of people don't like players because of how they act on TV or because they didn't sign their program.. reading responses like @phan52 's really say something.

[phan52]

Looks like Steve Elkington has hit the motherlode today on Twitter....

ESPN covering Michael Sam as a gay athlete is embarrassing .....

-- Steve Elkington (@elkpga) February 25, 2014

ESPN reporting Michael Sam is leading the handbag throw at NFL combine.... No one else expected to throw today

-- Steve Elkington (@elkpga) February 25, 2014

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2014/02/unfortunately-for-everyone-steve-elkington-is-still-saying-s.html

Now, there's a jerk.

[RonTheSavage]

Looks like Steve Elkington has hit the motherlode today on Twitter.... ESPN covering Michael Sam as a gay athlete is embarrassing ..... -- Steve Elkington (@elkpga) [URL=https://twitter.com/elkpga/statuses/438301060508053504][COLOR=0066CC]February 25, 2014[/COLOR][/URL] ESPN reporting Michael Sam is leading the handbag throw at NFL combine.... No one else expected to throw today -- Steve Elkington (@elkpga) [URL=https://twitter.com/elkpga/statuses/438359048350466049][COLOR=0066CC]February 25, 2014 [/COLOR][/URL] [URL=http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2014/02/unfortunately-for-everyone-steve-elkington-is-still-saying-s.html]http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2014/02/unfortunately-for-everyone-steve-elkington-is-still-saying-s.html[/URL] Now, there's a jerk. [RIGHT]  [/RIGHT]

Wowwwwwwwwwwwww. At some point you gotta just back away from Twitter.

[iacas]

Elk has always, apparently, been a giant flaming *******. **** him.

[Golfingdad]

... my wife (an avid golfer) still to this day can't stand him for his refusal to play in that one PGA tournament back in the day that Annika played in - he was vocal & refused to play because they let a woman play in a PGA event (she was not successful & missed the cut as I recall) ... he is strong headed and isn't afraid to go against the grain (enter his recent lawsuit) ... I can respect that, but he still seems like a jackass more often than not.

The refusing to play with a woman though....that's petty and bastardly.

It's not a whole lot less douchey, however, what @inthehole said isn't entirely accurate. He stated that he'd withdraw if he got paired with her (knowing that he couldn't possibly get paired with her until the weekend.)  Note that the article also points out some critical statements by Nick Price and Scott Hoch.

Again, still something that he probably should have kept to himself.

I am really interested in the responses that involve personal experiences. Lots of people don't like players because of how they act on TV or because they didn't sign their program.. reading responses like @phan52's really say something.

Yes, I totally agree.  Basing opinions about somebody's character on one 10 second interaction with them is absurd.

[newtogolf]

Wowwwwwwwwwwwww. At some point you gotta just back away from Twitter.

Yeah, will be interesting to see how he tries to weasel his way out of this mess.  Talk about a PR firms worst nightmare, I can't imagine any excuse working short of his password was stolen and he didn't write those tweets, otherwise he's done.

[MSDOGS1976]

I have no idea what endorsement deals he had, but they are probably gone.

[RetroJFrancisco]

Bubba watson comes across as a total moaning BIATCH after he hits a bad shot..

Takes it out on other people too, total dic*..

Oh and he is religious and thinks god helps him win golf tournaments, god be like: "Shall I help the starving kids in Africa.. Nah screw it.. Masters is on..GO BUBBA"

Hilarious really.